Weeks after The FA was embroiled in a row over appearing to buy off the FIFA’s executive committee (or at least their wives) with designer handbags, in the hope of securing some votes for England’s World Cup 2018 bid, FIFA vice-prez Jack Warner has decided he doesn’t want his anymore.
The £230 Mulberry bag has been sent back, along with a tear-stained letter claiming it’s brought him nothing but bad press:
Had [my wife] or I known then that the acceptance of what we all felt was a kind gesture would have resulted in the tainting of her character and mine together with the untold embarrassment to which we are still being subjected, none of us would have attended the dinner, nor would she have accepted what we thought was a gift in honour of her birthday [We’ll assume she thought it was in honour of the all the other wives’ birthdays as well - The Spoiler]
I have faced and continue to face all kinds of indignities from all manner of persons, but when these insults touch my wife, it represents an all time low.
At the time of Fabio Capello’s appointment, a Spanish acquaintance of The Spoiler balked in fear, for he knew that the Italian would give the Three Lions their best chance of winning a trophy since the seventies.
Fast forward two years, and it looks like our amigo was right.
Inheriting a group of players who mostly looked like they didn’t care much for the spectacle of international football (we’re looking at you, Stevie G), Capello has created an air of confidence that has led to a 100 per cent record and the highest goal tally in European World Cup qualification.
It’s very easy to get swept up in the hype of England’s recent rude health, but in most positions, it feels like they can match any of the world’s top nations player-for-player.
So, can England finally bring football home next summer, or are capello’s men still not fit to topple the big boys in a major tournament? Votes and comments below, please…
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Unlike Portugal, you could be heading to South Africa
*** COMPETITION NOW CLOSED ***
The Spoiler is in possession of a FIFA-branded Sony Ericsson W995 mobile, worth £500. We’re not showing off our fabulous taste in hand held telecommunications though, we’re giving to give it away to one lucky reader.
The lucky so and so who bags the phone will then be entered into a draw for the chance to win a ‘Golden Ticket’ to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. That means a pair of tickets to see every single match of your chosen country, plus flights and accommodation.
Sounds good, right? For your chance to win, all you have to do is answer the following question:
Which squad number was Marco Materazzi wearing when Zinedine Zidane headbutted him in the 2006 final?
If you think you know the answer or you have the ability to use Wikipedia, send your name, address, a list of turn-ons and the answer to us here. Actually, keep the turn-ons to yourself.
Will you be helping to crash the FIFA website today?
At 11am GMT, tickets for South Africa’s first World Cup will go on sale. There’s no need to hurry though, as they will not be dished out on a first come, first served basis. Instead, fans must register their interest on the FIFA website, and then wait for the results of a random draw to take place on April 15.
There will be 3 million tickets available for 64 matches, although 120,000 subsidised tickets have been reserved for South African residents, and a further 40,000 will be given to stadium construction workers.
Three categories of tickets will be available, the least expensive of which is $80 USD.
There has been much hype about South Africa’s lack of preparation for the tournament (stadiums not being completed, security fears, infrastructure concerns etc), but we suspect this is media hype that should be taken with a pinch of salt. After all, the press told us how shitty the Beijing Olympics would be for months, and it turned out to be a an unbridled success.
Are you going to try and get tickets? Let us know below.
The seats look even better than the ones at The Emirates
The Getty images caption that accompanies this picture:
South African kids sit next to Nelspruit’s new football stadium on January 20, 2009 that will be used as one of the 10 stadiums across South Africa for the 2010 World Cup.
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